Meister Eckhart said if the only prayer you say is thank You, that would suffice. Thankfulness and gratitude are a deep form of prayer. We see in Psalms, for example, many shouts of praise and thanksgiving.
We are thankful for the streams of sunlight streaming through the trees, for the majesty of the mountains, for the powerful ocean waves, for the song of the bird, the wagging tail of the dog, for the gurgle of the baby, for the twinkle of humor and the sparkle of love in the eye of our beloved. We are thankful for life itself.
And all of this is made possible by something more than we can imagine or name. We use words to point at that More such as God, Divine Presence, etc.
We have a banquet of blessings for which to give profuse praise and thanksgiving. That is not to say there are no challenging times, no off putting tastes or smells, no weeping. But, when we are attuned to the blessings here, we can move through those times gracefully. They are seen as the twists and turns that lead to maturity.
Matthew Fox wrote that in the verse, "be perfect as your Father in heaven," the word "perfect" translated from Greek does not mean the perfect we might think of, without flaw. Rather the word fully understood is - be adult, mature, show compassion.
An adult, mature way to be is living in an attitude of gratitude, thanking God for the glories of this earth and all that abide here.
I give thanks for you. I am thankful you read my thoughts shared here with you, and hopefully contemplate the ideas. I am thankful that some of you share this blog with friends and family. I am thankful that these ideas are read in many countries by wonderful people. I am thankful spirituality is a core focus for you as it is for me. I send you my love.
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